Business Confidentiality

In a recent article received from my favourite law book company I read that an HR practitioner (in a large organisation) had shared details of a corporate restructure with colleagues. When the Company became aware of this they terminated employment for ‘leaking’ confidential information. Fair Work Australia (FWA) upheld the decision citing the employee should have known better!

Interestingly the employee's defence was that the document circulated was not marked confidential and it had been left on top of a filing cabinet in the general office area. Suffice to say the HR practitioner distributed the information [in particular] to those, apparently affected by the documented changes. Notwithstanding FWA noted ‘that senior people in an organisation were often privy to confidential information and it was envisaged that they should be trusted to know what should and shouldn’t be discussed.’

Granted the HR practitioner, of all people, should know what’s confidential or not and therefore what’s fit for public consumption…however as an employer, I’m not sure I would rely solely on an individual having the wherewithal to discern what’s confidential information. I think I want to have some protocols in place.

These protocols should include confidentiality agreements that identify what can and can’t be discussed, as well as Company Policies that support this. And of course all employees, when they attend their induction, are advised of the Company’s expectations along with the ramifications if an employee breaches such an agreement.

Given employees, on average, will change roles in a two to three year time frame, it may be prudent for organizations to review their business practices/policies to see whether their staff understand what confidential information is, and what they are required to do when they become aware of such information.